A. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the fields of art relating to emergency response vehicles and, more particularly, to vehicles especially equipped with various modules to provide essential emergency services in locations having restricted access and/or in areas impassable to normal street vehicles.
B. Description of the Related Art
In an industrial plant, it can be difficult, and at times virtually impossible, to provide emergency services where they are needed most. This situation is primarily due to the small passageways and low overhead clearances which make it impossible for normal street vehicles such as fire trucks, rescue vehicles, and ambulances to get to the emergency.
If a fire breaks out in an industrial plant, automatic fire suppression systems and hand-held fire extinguishers must be relied upon to put it out since there is no way at present to transport and concentrate significant fire fighting equipment at the scene of a fire. If fires break out in parking garages, the low clearance makes it inaccessible to normal fire-fighting vehicles.
If a worker is in a precarious or life-threatening predicament, he or she must be rescued using only that equipment which can be transported to the scene by hand.
If a worker is injured in such an industrial plant, he must be either transported in his injured condition to an emergency facility or treated at the scene of the injury using those first-aid supplies which can be carried to the scene by hand.
Similarly, an emergency situation occuring in mountainous areas, in heavily wooded areas, and/or away from roadways can make it practically impossible to provide emergency services when and where they are needed by normal street emergency vehicles.
Planes have crashed in heavily wooded areas and many hours of valuable time were consumed clearing trees to make a path for rescue vehicles and ambulances. Meanwhile, the injured had to be carried out by hand on stretchers.
Mountain climbers, hikers, and others have become involved in perilous situations in areas which a street vehicle finds impassable. Again, rescue equipment must be carried to the scene by hand, and injured persons must be transported, at least as far as a roadway, by hand.
A fire in a location impassable to a normal fire truck must be put out by whatever means are at hand, or else allowed to burn itself out. On a much larger scale, planes and helicopters carrying fire-suppressing chemicals or large volumes of water are used for such things as forest fires. However, these methods are not practical for the more common building or equipment fire.
In crowded areas such as sports stadiums and amusement parks, it is difficult for a full-size fire truck, rescue vehicle, or ambulance to manuever quickly because large numbers of people must move out of the way to let the vehicle pass.
The following technical references are known to the inventor:
______________________________________ United States Patents U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Year Issued ______________________________________ 4,027,739 Allenthorp et al. 1977 4,676,545 Bonfilio et al. 1987 4,842,326 DiVito 1989 5,012,880 Abner 1991 5,301,997 Cudden 1994 ______________________________________
The Allenthorp patent discloses a camper module for use on a small car chassis for recreational purposes.
The Bonfilio patent discloses a modular chassis and bodies for constructing land, sea, and air vehicles.
The DiVito patent discloses various interchangeable vehicle "cores" for use on roadways to which various modules attach to perform various functions. An ambulance shell is disclosed for use with this vehicle.
The Abner patent discloses a "mini-ambulance" built on a small material transport vehicle. All of the emergency response equipment is separately attached to the vehicle body.
The Cudden patent discloses a modular passenger compartment for a pick-up truck.
Modular vehicle components are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,027,739, 4,676,545, 4,842,326, and 5,301,997 to Allenthorp et al., Bonfilio et al., DeVito, and Cudden respectively. Each of these disclose a vehicle with modular components, or a vehicle which is itself made up of modules.
Such vehicles have several disadvantages. Each patent listed immediately above discloses a full-size vehicle meant for operation on the street. These vehicles are useless for all practical purposes if the emergency happens to be in a restricted, congested, or otherwise impassable area for street vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,880 to Cudden discloses a "mini-ambulance" which can operate in places where a full-size vehicle cannot. This vehicle, however, is only useful for performing certain services on a particular vehicle chassis and body since all of the equipment is attached directly to the vehicle body.
What is needed in the art is a utility vehicle which can perform various emergency response functions depending upon which module is attached to the vehicle, and which is small in size so that it can maneuver in restricted and congested areas, and which is capable of traversing areas inaccessible to vehicles meant for operation on roads. Applicant's present invention fulfills these needs which heretofore have gone unmet.